The 'Hunger Games' Case
by end of a story begins another
Summary: "If you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones; 'cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs" from Youth by Daughter. December Challenge for Caesar's Palace. The 'Hunger Games' case and its lucky little failsafe that wasn't so lucky for the sufferers.


"If you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones; 'cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs" from Youth by Daughter.

_The cloaked figure slid a knife through the door lock. "Police stations should pay more for their locks," they muttered, smiling slightly as there was a faint click. The door to the police hall of records swung open and the figure stepped lightly into the dark, musty corridor._

_They looked around the hundreds of tapes, searching for a particular one. After a few minutes, they stopped at the six hundreds section. They drew out one tape. It was slightly stained with some dark brown splatters. Hopefully it would still work._

_The trespasser slid the tape into the dusty tape cassette on prominent display by the wall. They turned down the sound to the lowest possible and watched, listened to, shuddered at the tape that chronicled one of the most horrific police cases in history._

Police Tape #647

Record of the 'Hunger Games' case

The screen filled with static for a moment, then faded to black. An oh-so familiar voice rang in the listener's ears. You might have heard a gasp before the voice continued.

'This is Officer Darius reporting on the 'Hunger Games' case. This record is not to be tampered with, moved, or taken from the collection of records under any circumstances, and any of those offenses may be punished by law. If you view this tape, you may be targeted by the elusive gang known as the Victors. You have been warned. This is entirely serious.'

The screen showed a short clip of an olive-skinned girl screaming and thrashing while strapped to a bed.

'The first fully infected victim of the 'Hunger Games' syndrome was one sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen. She was involved with the black market and illegal hunting in a preserve after her father's death. She was taken into custody after she underwent a series of hallucinations and killed a teenager, Marvel Knox, at her school. Most of her hysterical babbling was unintelligible, but a few transcripts have been made of her more lucid moments, such as the following.'

The screen changed to a young pink-haired doctor sitting by the girl's bed.

'Who are you? Are you from the Capitol? Are you here to kill me?'

'I am here to help you, Katniss, honey. My name is Effie Trinket. I am a doctor, and I am going to talk with you about your hallucinations, okay?'

'Effie Trinket! You're an escort, you choose children for death! Get away from me, murderer!'

Everdeen thrashed and tried to escape; Trinket sat calmly by her until she grew still.

'I am not a murderer. From eyewitness accounts at your school, honey, it seems that you are the murderer. What do you know of the death of Marvel Knox?'

'He was from District One! He was a Career! He killed Rue!'

'Rue McCloud? Oh dear. The seventh grade girl in your school? The girl who is experiencing symptoms of hysteria, delusions, and almost certainly has your condition?'

'He killed her! He killed her! You made him kill her!'

Everdeen became hysterical and had to be sedated, screen goes black again.

_"Oh god," the trespasser whispered. "Rue. I almost forgot her."_

'From analyzing her speech, it seems that Everdeen believed she was in a dystopian future, where North America is called Panem and cut off from the rest of the world. Apparently the so-called 'Hunger Games' is an event organized by the leading 'Capitol' where teenagers fight to the death. A popular theory of how this 'Hunger Games' syndrome started was too much bloody teen literature and films, but there is no real evidence to back that up,' said Officer Darius.

A short clip showed of a blonde boy screaming and attacking multiple police officers.

_The trespasser tensed, as though they needed to run far, far away, but was afraid to._

'The next confirmed victim was sixteen year old Peeta Mellark, who, apparently in his pre-games 'interview', had been in love with Everdeen since they were children. There is no proof of this, as the two had apparently never interacted. But when Mellark was identified as the second victim, that was when the shared fantasy was discovered. Everdeen and Mellark, as well as the victims that followed, shared the exact same fantasy. Everything happened in perfect unison in their delusions: the star-crossed lovers were just announced, the mutations have just come out, this 'tribute' girl just died. Another thing to note is that whenever a tribute in the 'Hunger Games' died in their fantasy, they subsided into a coma, and they were never able to recover.'

Clip of a blonde girl screaming and shaking in her hospital bed; her vitals monitor went wild, then grew completely still as the monitor settled into a too-steady loop.

'One such example was Glimmer Syles, a seventeen year old in a relationship with previously mentioned Marvel Knox. She clawed at her skin and batted the air as if warding away insects, then seemed to die and has not shown any reactions since it happened five years ago. Other examples include Rue McCloud, Thresh Gomez, and Cato Clade.'

Blurred, jolted clip of Everdeen and Mellark escaping from the building with hastily fashioned weapons.

'Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us! We will bring you down!' said Everdeen, brandishing a makeshift bow and arrows tipped with broken glass.

The clip cut out as the recorder fleed from a hail of the escapees' missiles.

'What is most notable is that Everdeen and Mellark successfully escaped from the hospital into the local cavern network while still suffering from severe delusions and hysteria. They were soon joined by Haymitch Abernathy, the first adult sufferer of 'Hunger Games' syndrome, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, and Finnick Odair. They were all apparently victors of the 'Hunger Games', routinely stole from and attacked government officials, and were henceforth named as a gang.'

Still shot of a bloody body in a ditch.

_"Oh god. No. I didn't need to see that again. I didn't want to see that!"_

'Soon after the escape, Odair's body was found outside of the cavern near the Mayor's mansion. All hail Mayor Snow. The wounds seemed to be reptilian teeth marks, but such large reptiles in this climate were not previously known to exist. Civilians should take note and be on their guard.'

Brief clip of an explosion.

'The bombing of the Mayor's mansion killed and wounded over fifty children who had taken refuge from the Victors gang. All hail Mayor Snow. Everdeen's younger sister, Primrose, was killed in the bombing. It does lead to wonder why Everdeen would launch an attack on the mansion where her sister, a doctor in training, could be.'

_The cloaked figure started to cry and didn't stop. "Prim. Not Prim again. All my fault."_

Shot of a poster illustrating Everdeen as a strange black and white bird.

'Everdeen has taken up a role as the 'Mockingjay', a made-up bird of some symbolism to the Victors. She leaves posters everywhere encouraging rebellion against our dear Mayor Snow, all hail him. She attacks his officers and workers wherever she can. The 'Hunger Games' syndrome has continued for five years and is still going on to this day. If I were allowed to have favoring opinions of Everdeen, I would say that when I knew her before this all happened, she was a good young woman. I did not think she would be a murderer.'

The speaker gulped and took a shaky breath.

'That is why I caught her yesterday, could have held her to justice, and let her go free. I do not expect to live much longer.'

A loud bang came from the black screen, evidently from where Officer Darius was speaking.

_"Not Darius. Not Darius too. No, please, no, what did they do to you? He saved me and what? Got k-killed?" the trespasser sobbed._

An unknown voice shouts through the door. 'Officer Darius! You are charged with treason against Mayor Snow, all hail him, and you must serve a life sentence in prison. Come out or face worse consequences.'

'I don't care. I just don't. And I know the cause of the Hunger Games syndrome!' Officer Darius shouts back. 'It was an experiment!'

_"What?"_

'Yes. An experiment of Mayor Snow, all fail him, to create something like the perfect citizen!'

'Officer Darius! Exit this building immediately!'

'And if they c-could have recovered, their bodies wouldn't let them! Because they were trying to escape this crueller world! Yes. Panem is heaven compared to this burning hell. This burning hell of Mayor Snow.'

_"Darius. P-please, please run. They'll k-kill you. You can't do this."_

'Katniss. If you are listening to this, please run, now. They have a weapon against you. They can kill you where you are. Run! They have a-'

There was a loud sound of the door breaking open, and a shot was fired. Just one. A huge, wet thunk sounded, and there was a long gurgle.

'R-run, Katniss...'

_"Oh god. No. Every single person...every person I know...Finnick and Prim and now Darius?" The cloaked figure cried their broken heart out._

'Attention, sufferers of the Hunger Games syndrome!' a police said. 'If you are listening to this, remember. There is no escape from Mayor Snow, all hail him. Everdeen, Mellark, Abernathy, Mason, Cresta, remember. If the experiment fails, discard it. And Mayor Snow, all hail him, designed a failsafe for that purpose.' There was a small but distinct sound of a button being pressed.

_A high, echoing, whining pitch rattled through the brain of the suffering girl. It targeted her mind, her limbs, her heart, her lungs, making her reel back with shock._

_"What? What? No! No, please! Wh- aaaaahhh!"_

_She couldn't move her arms or legs. She couldn't breathe. As the never-ending sound continued, her brain fell into a murky haze. Couldn't breathe...drowning…_

'The lucky little failsafe targets the drug known as Tracker Jacker and destroys it. It will have spread throughout your whole bodies, so your entire body is under attack. Goodbye, murdering Victor.'

_There was a huge, wet thunk, and the girl fell, unable to breathe, unable to do anything. Her last thoughts were of all the people she couldn't save. The people she cared about, all killed because of Mayor Snow, the devil in his hellish realm._

_Katniss Everdeen died in pain, alone, and in tears for her fallen rebellion. No more Mockingjay. Everything she had lived for, for so many years, was a drugged lie._

"Goodnight, Everdeen. Mayor Snow has won. All hail him, forever and ever, for as long as he shall live."


End file.
